"I think I found another one... aha! Yup, at least it bein' the glowy ones that you want helps ta find them. Here, drink up." The light teal rump stuck up from beneath a pile of junk and office desks swished its red and violet striped tail, the pony it was attached to came up bearing a glowing green bottle in her teeth, which Kelpie trotted over proudly to an injured Vira leaning against the wall.

Vira tossed her head back and chugged the delightfully radioactive bottle of Zip! Emerald, ending with a gasp when she drained it and closing her eyes in relief as she felt a trickle of power to heal her wounds with. Finding more healing potions, bandages or something a little stronger would be more helpful, but at least they wound up in a soda factory that had something tingly among its product line. It would take a lot more of the local celery flavored drink to restore her, but every little bit helped.

"T-Thank you Kelpie, that feels a bit better, my magic may be up to the task of dealing with the next Trappers we run across. You are very good at finding those. Even though they are glowing, I would not have spotted that one."

The young mare gave a proud little whinny in response, coming close to peel up the edge of the bandages on her flanks and squinting at the flesh knitting together slowly with a look of disgusted wonder. "Been scavenging on the island since I was my little sister's age, none of the good stuff is easy to find anymore. Wow that's creepy... rads actually do heal you big bitches, huh?"

Vira frowned and clicked her teeth at the mild insult, coming to accept a certain level of animosity was just going to remain between them. At least it was down to offhoofed, almost friendly jibes like that one, rather than the screaming match that had brought the horrendous monster that chased them here down on their heads. Listening in to her companion's state of mind helped put up with it too, she was worried for her sister Mossy, just as Vira was concerned for Longfellow and Nick, all of whom they had left behind to lead the terrible Rainbow Crawler away.

"Yes, though a much stronger source would be better. With powerful enough radiation, all my wounds and flagging energy could be restored in moments. I thank you for finding this much Kelpie, but our situation is still rather dire and one admittedly tasty soda at a time will not... (Buuuurp!)" Vira answered wearily, flushing in embarrassment and holding a hoof up to her lips when her reply was ended by a ringing belch from drinking four sodas in a row.

Another series of distant gunshots from the filthy windows illustrated her point about the threat they faced, followed by the screams of more Trappers meeting very messy ends somewhere outside. The Rainbow Crawler was still out there... making anywhere else a preferable place to be, though the fact it hadn't found a way in yet simultaneously made hunkering down inside the fortress like Zip! Factory their best option.

She hobbled over to join Kelpie at the broken frosted glass of the door to the small office near the roof access they had used to get in. The halls outside were dirty and cluttered with rubble and trash, but thankfully silent and empty for the moment. Her wing was mostly mended at least, but she hardly had the strength to fly herself away from here, let alone take her unwilling passenger with her. She might be able to manage it alone, but leaving Kelpie behind wasn't being a good pony...

Ducking back from the door, Vira tilted her head down to Kelpie and the glow of her blue green magic surrounding the shotgun she had looted from a trapper on the roof. The rusty weapon was broken down, cleaned and reassembled in just a few deft movements and the aid of a repair spell.

She didn't need to ask considering she could sense all the years of experience Kelpie had at mending torn clothes, keeping ancient tools in shape and generally using the leftover junk of the old world to survive, but Vira was impressed and spoke up in a tired whisper. "Y-You are very good at that. I know a repair-pony who would approve back in Trotson."

"Why don't you go back there then? Provided we get out of this mess anyway..." Kelpie grumbled back, her thoughts turning prickly as they went back to images of Jarhead and their situation.

Vira sighed at her companion wavering between tolerating her in the interest of survival, versus carefully controlled disdain tinged with jealousy. The threat of the trappers proved they needed to work together and get along, but Vira hoped they could do so a little better anyway. Plus she did still feel somewhat shamed over her behavior, using her psychic abilities in anger to find the chinks in the tough little mare's emotional armor and hurt her.

Part of being a good pony was admitting when you were wrong and seeking forgiveness, something Vira had never really allowed herself to do before, so she grit her teeth and bowed her head to the task reluctantly now. "Kelpie... I am sorry. For the things I said, how I insulted you... for using your feelings for Jarhead... I would not have pursued him had I known he was your special somepony."

"H-He's not! I mean... I didn't like you throwing yourself at him like a big slut, but he's not mine or anything, so w-what do I care!? He's a grown buck, he can do what he wants. I just thought.. t-thought he had better tastes is all!" Kelpie's teal face turned a brilliant red as she stammered, growing flustered under Vira's raised eyebrow and waving her hooves in denial.

Giving a tired smirk at the insult and frantic thoughts, Vira shrugged back. "I have told you I can read minds Kelpie... Lying to either me or yourself is ineffective, whichever you are doing. I have my own special somepony, w-who is not necessarily mine either, so I can sympathize. I would be happy to return to him in Trotson as soon as I am able, but there are things I must do here first. I can promise not to seduce your Jarhead during my stay however. He is a very pleasant and friendly buck, but my feelings toward him were mainly concerned with e-experimenting..."

"Experimenting!? Like what, using some weird mutant mind control on him or something!?" Kelpie yelped and pointed an accusing hoof Vira's way, thoughts of the green alicorn as some kind of evil sorceress with an enthralled love slave flashing behind her blue eyes.

The image that popped into Kelpie's mind confused her too, sputtering at the very idea of wearing all that revealing black leather. She wondered how exactly the whip floating beside her factored into mating, insulted both for herself and for the imaginary Jar Head held by a leash and spiked collar the haughty, cackling and even taller version of herself was holding in her teeth. The poor buck mumbling around the gag in his muzzle was portrayed as pathetic and simpering, his eyes blank and enthralled, while Vira was sure her rump was nowhere near the bloated bubble butt Kelpie insultingly pictured...

Vira huffed the suspicious daydream away, biting her lip in thought and slumping as she came to a conclusion. Honesty was one of the important virtues of ponykind, she had to tell the truth... "Not that kind of experiment, no... I meant it innocently. I wish to return to my own stallion and... be with him, but I have never... and I wished to be good... Nick told me to try other fish in the sea after all, and he is a fisherpony... a-and handsome... and nice... soooo..."

Trotting across the room and stashing her rebuilt shotgun in her saddlebag, Kelpie came right up in Vira's shadow and tilted her head with a smirk of dawning comprehension. Most of her anger cooled at least, though it was replaced with a rather unpleasant superior attitude and enjoyment at watching the big green filly squirm.

"You're a big fat virgin! Aren't you!? HA! You look all tall and pretty, but you're nothing but a little filly! Oh this is rich!" Kelpie barked laughter as Vira turned red and backed away from the smaller mare teasing her.

"I-It is nothing to be ashamed of, s-so I will not be hurt by your jibes! My kind have had no use for... t-that! We have been unable to reproduce, so there has been no reason until now! Stop laughing!"

Kelpie did stop for a moment, goggling at Vira's defensive stammering before doubling over in fresh gales. "A-Are you kidding!? Most mares do everything they can to NOT get knocked up. You're complaining you haven't had to worry about that, but still haven't enjoyed it!? Jeez! I'm no oversized floozie like you, but even I've at least had a roll in the hay now and then!"

Vira regretted this entire line of conversation, sticking her nose up in a huff and limping away to the door out. "Good for you then! If I were interested in such, I could easily do the same you know. As I proved with Jarhead I'll remind you... T-Though I reiterate, he did not say he had a relationship with you when I asked, or I would have selected some other stallion to... J-Just come on, we have other things to worry about."

A light hoof to her shoulder made Vira pause, snorting down to the mare still giggling and wiping tears from her eyes. If it weren't for the warming emotion she felt coming off Kelpie, she would have kept right on stalking off until she found another trapper to end this whole embarrassing exchange.

"Wait up Bitch, sorry ok? You're right, it's nothing to be ashamed of and I shouldn't make fun. It's just... a mare like you? Never? It's kinda funny! I mean I hate to admit it, but you are really beautiful, so I just thought you were toying with the fool. Not that you... never!? Like never-ever?" Kelpie managed to slow her breathing and stop snickering at least, goggling up to Vira's bright green eyes flicking away to her hooves.

"O-Other reasons for mating were not something I understood before recently... Romantic f-feelings and expressing them, sharing physical pleasure, k-kissing even... it is all very new and I thought to p-practice. Though we all saw how that turned out. Just because I look this way, do not make assumptions Kelpie."

Kelpie rolled her eyes and answered in a whisper. "Oh boo-hoo. I'ma big ol' gorgeous virgin, woe is me... Don't whine to me about how hard you got it. I wish I looked like you, maybe then the goofball would pay me some attention too."

The wistful longing Vira could feel from Kelpie looking away was something Vira could relate to. Wanting somepony to feel for you the way you did for them, having that fluttery sensation in her heart just saying his name, feeling it swell in her chest until it ached... Vira still didn't like the jibes at her expense, but understood them a bit better and even saw a way to try to fix her mistakes with the lovelorn mare.

"Kelpie... Jarhead cares for you a great deal, I sensed that very clearly. Ponies are often blinded to the things right in front of their muzzles, seeing things as they expect to see them. You need not look like me to gain his attention, you are a lovely mare already. Just a tad... frumpy... and grouchy... and naggy... and..."

"Watch it..." Kelpie grumbled back defensively, her thoughts prickly but curious.

"Sorry, just being honest... I only meant... Kelpie, my mother made my sisters and I look as we do, formed in her image of perfection, dark and beautiful and all the same. I always believed I should fit the mold she cast me in, be as she intended me to be. That image became a monster to many in the wasteland after the things we did under her command, normal ponies feared and hated us on sight... For a time I hated all of you for that in turn, became what they saw when they looked at me... It took a long time and the help of one stubborn stallion, but I have learned that I can change and even change how others see me. Neither of us are defined by others, what they see is not who we are. You can do the same Kelpie. Jarhead sees you as a sister, show him you are more."

"Easy for you to say, even all beat to shit, you're still annoyingly, ridiculously hot you big bitch... T-Thanks though, if we get out of here I'll give it a try. Not sure how, but if you can, I can." Kelpie's reply was still full of doubt, but also a glimmer of wary hope Vira tried to encourage.

"As it so happens, I have made friends with a trio of robotic mares who quite enjoy giving makeovers and are very good at it. Let's escape this place and look forward to introducing you, right Kelpie?" Vira put on a tired smile and waved toward the door out, the two mares slipping out together cautiously.

The chaos still going on outside worked in their favor as Vira and Kelpie made their way through the ruined offices. Several times they had to duck and hide from trapper ponies charging through the halls to find some new vantage to fire on the monster Rainbow Crawler assaulting their fortress. From what she picked up, the tide seemed to be turning in their favor, which at least kept them busy and distracted from discovering they had intruders.

Vira was surprised to learn the fog crazed raiders weren't entirely insane, or their madness didn't preclude rational thought completely. They shouted to each other, communicating tactics and situational awareness, even if it was mixed in with a lot of cursing and garbled snarls. The Trappers weren't as brainless as she had initially assumed though, there was a method to their madness and even a kind of hierarchy. More than once, Vira caught the yelled name of 'Dragonslayer' and felt the fanatical faith they had in their apparent leader.

Asking Kelpie if she knew anything about the fearsome pony they all completely believed would handle the Rainbow Crawler, resulted in a bit of friendlier conversation as they paused in their slow trek through the maze of offices. The sneaky mare who had been leading the way (huffing at all the noise Vira made) taking the opportunity to scavenge as she replied.

"I've heard rumors, mainly from when this place became a Trapper stronghold years ago. They're not much better than the dragon, but I only ever heard stories of old Fogscale." Kelpie answered while exploring the room full of rotting cubicles, poking her head up from one to toss over another glowing green bottle for Vira.

"D-Dragon? There really was one? It is not just a boastful name?"

While she could do without the smirk at Vira's fearful stutter, Kelpie's voice wasn't teasing and her answer was honest. "Oh yeah, long time ago. Jar Head, his brother and I used to play games as foals about it. Actually I can't believe I'm really here after pretending to storm the dragon's castle and steal his treasure back then."

Smiling as she slugged down another radioactive beverage, Vira could see them in the mare's memories. A trio of little foals dreaming of grand adventure, the young version of the handsome stallion Jar Head was adorable, while even Kelpie's self image at that age was cute, far less frumpy playing the captive princess or daring thief anyway. The way her thoughts hung on that old dream again with the more practical, adult ideas about those fabulous riches piqued her interest too.

"Treasure? There is treasure here? It is something you dreamed of... you still hold out the tiniest kernel of hope for such, don't you?"

Trotting back out to move on to the next row of cubicles, Kelpie gave Vira a flat look and snorted gruffly. "I told you, I don't like you peeking in my head. But yeah, alright, of course I still wish for it. Supposedly, there's a mountain of caps from the bottling plant and a ton of gems they used for something or other, all piled up in a dragon's hoard somewhere in here. Money's important, didn't your freaky mom teach you that?"

"My mother wished for a world where that would no longer be the case. All ponies would be equal under Unity, so there would be no need for worldly riches. I have recently come to learn a little about it though, I got a job after all..."

"At least you learned here in the real world, ponies need caps to survive. That money could do a lot of good, I could take better care of my sister, pay Leather Neck's medical bills from that old drunk, Jar could even buy a big boat and be an upstanding captain, then someday he'd be THE Cap'n of the whole harbor and..." Kelpie kept talking as she rooted around in all the trash and ruin, losing herself to the enjoyable daydream, then turning beet red and wheeling on Vira giggling into her hoof. "S-Stay outta my head! Stop that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to pry... Some things I simply overhear without trying."

"Well it's rude you know! And weird! Especially getting me thinking about silly stuff that'll never happen and then eavesdropping! E-Everypony has some daydream of what they'd do with the Zip! treasure, but that's all it is, dreams that don't do anypony any good." Kelpie's ember of anger slowly fizzled out, leaving her to finish with a tinge of misery and bitterness that made Vira's heart hurt to hear from such a young mare.

"Well I think they do... I may have been a bit blindly devoted to my mother's dream, but she meant it well. When she... died, her dream died with her, I was very angry and lost for a... for a long time Kelpie. Without dreams to look to, there are only nightmares... I know. It took my friend to convince me I could have dreams of my own, but I am much happier now that I am pursuing them. Yours was a very pleasant example, I quite liked the pretty white dress you imagined for yourself. Actually, perhaps you could teach me about this marriage business, I'm very interested in that as well and have as little knowledge on that subject as I have with mating."

Kelpie sputtered at Vira's contemplative look and the curious tilt to her head, nearly losing a dusty old healing potion she had pried from a first aid kit hidden away behind a desk. "J-Jeez, you really are a big ol' virgin. Find yourself one of those ancient Hayley Quinn romance novels once we're out of here if you're so interested. We're not girlfriends, we're not going to hang around gossiping about bucks, we need to get the hell out of here. You've really got a one track mind when it comes to all that crap, don't you bitch?"

"So Nick has told me... Love may be something you take for granted, but it is fascinating to me in all its forms. You and Jar Head, Longfellow and his... his poor wife and daughter... Sumi and Plaid with their parents. So many different kinds... I only ever felt so strongly about my mother before."

Nickering at the dreamy tone to Vira's voice, Kelpie rolled her eyes and waved it all away. "You need to get laid. J-Just not with Jar Head! If I promise to gab with you about all this romantic nonsense, will you hush up already? We're lucky we haven't gotten..."

Grrrrrr....

Kelpie froze in the act of holding her hoof up to lecture to the big alicorn to focus as she so often had to with Jar Head, Leather Neck and her sister Mossy, earning her the (totally unfair!) reputation of being a bossy nag among the three layabout dreamers like this silly filly she had been saddled with. The rumbling growl coming from the door merely proved her point, like her trying to warn against just this kind of thing had summoned it.

A trio of mangy, snarling dogs met their shared gaze when Vira and Kelpie turned their heads together, what remained of their patchy coats raised up on their back, each wearing a spiked collar and scraps of metal and leather armor on their chests. Hunting dogs...

Moving very... very... slowly... Kelpie lowered her foreleg to the floor, wincing at the collective step the mutts took and their yip of warning, she whispered out the side of her mouth to the alicorn thankfully following her lead and not running like a fool. "Hey... do that thing, zap their brains or whatever!"

"I cannot... telepathy only works on ponies..." Vira whispered back, taking a step in retreat along with Kelpie.

"Fucking really!? What good is that!? Do something quiet anyway, they're guard dogs! They're going to..." Kelpie snarled back, facehoofing internally when she called for Discord to make a fool of her again and the lead dog threw its head back in a howl the other two took up.

Laying her ears back at the noise, Vira's hindleg came down on a coffee cup, the brittle snap enough of a signal for the dogs to leap forward and attack. Her horn flickered weakly as she tried to bring up a shield, interrupted from the too difficult spell by Kelpie's double barreled shotgun throwing the first mutt to leap at her back in a ringing blast.

Reminded again her magic was too depleted to be reliable, Vira shot the mare a grateful look in time to see one of the remaining dogs circling her while the last kept her attention. Vira fell back on telepathy in the heat of the moment, her loud mental shout of (Kelpie! DUCK!) enough for the unicorn filly to obey instantly. Kelpie hit the litter strewn floorboards as the hound behind her lunged, sailing over her back in surprise and smashing into his pack mate in a tangle.

Already Vira could hear thundering hoofsteps and raised voices approaching at the noise, forcing her to forgo subtlety. Casting spells might be hit or miss, but her telekinesis was still Celestia-tier even when weakened. Grunting with effort, Vira lifted one of the battered metal office desks and tossed it at the struggling dogs, heartened to hear the painful sounding yelps as she leaned down, yanking Kelpie up by her scruff in her teeth and back to her hooves in one motion and galloping off together.

They heard the angry snarling and yaps gaining on them when the dogs recovered, joined by more barks and howls, along with the shouts of ponies in the warren of hallways and offices they raced through blindly. The little red dashes on the compass displayed at the bottom of her vision were only so helpful in the maze, one Vira thought was right on top of them apparently belonging to a pony a floor lower she heard race right under their hooves. This Eyes Forward Sparkle thing her pip-buck provided could be more informative in an emergency...

Using it as a rudimentary guide kept them ahead of the shouting Trappers though, a bigger threat in Vira's mind than the hunting dogs running them down. They might be insane, but Vira had to respect the hunting and tracking skills the madponies still possessed. If they knew they had intruders, it wouldn't take them long to corner their prey. Even with the fancy arcano-tech gadget however, Vira was afraid they were caught when they galloped out to a slightly larger and fancier office space.

The half dozen cubicles in this room were larger than the numerous lower ranked examples they'd already passed, denoting a higher rank of office drone that once toiled away up here. The floor was riddled with gaping holes they had to weave around in a rush, Kelpie nervously gulping at the long three story drop down to a wide open lobby space below.

Vira didn't share the little unicorn's problem with heights, but even her rushed steps slowed as she tilted her head down at the gap curiously. Oddly enough, there was a whole building contained in the echoing and gloomy chamber down there... It was positively ancient, but still better maintained than most ruined buildings outside. It was a very old fashioned and primitive factory shack of some kind from what she could puzzle out, the frozen water wheel on one side must have once been fed by one of the numerous springs or creeks on the island. The painted billboard on the pink shingled roof read the same as the neon one on the huge stone complex outside, Zip! Brewing Co. was spelled out in flowing, ornate font, a newer addition tacked on to the end finished with 'Gift Shop'. They built a factory around a factory?

The more pressing concern was the lack of exits that didn't drop straight down to the lobby she could hear ponies passing through constantly. There were three doors in the office, not including the one they'd entered through with the dogs hot on their tails. Two were hanging open and ruined wooden portals, the sounds of approaching hoofsteps and shouts coming from both the left and right. The last was a much sturdier and intact steel door straight ahead, a corroded brass plate on the faux wood finish labeling it as; 'President Fizzydrink'.

Left with no other real options, Kelpie dashed to the President's office, hissing in frustration when it refused to budge at her frantic yanking. She flopped down to her haunches and dug in her sweaty red and violet tail immediately, pulling out a bobby pin to go along with the screwdriver she fished from her bag to start working the lock. Judging by the experience with the skill flashing through her mind, Vira stayed quiet and allowed her to concentrate, taking up a protective guard at the smaller mare's back and focusing on the barks growing closer.

It was surprising how often a locked door represented an impassable barrier even 200 years later, but Vira had hopes this one meant the Trappers hadn't been able to get in the office of the pony in charge. If so, they wouldn't be likely to think of looking there, but the dogs were a different matter. If on a determined hunt the Trappers had more such mutts to put on the trail, but these two had their scent and wouldn't be fooled just by ducking into a locked room. They had to be put down, before they could even hope to evade discovery.

A few radioactive drinks hadn't done enough to restore her nearly drained magic reserves, but gave her just enough to scrape together a sparking emerald glow at her horn with enough time to prepare. Other than being terrible with the 9mm pistol tucked in her garter belt, Vira wanted to do this silently if she could, so she'd only have one chance. Her tired green gaze didn't blink or waver from the door she heard the approaching snarls coming from, the charged spell she was focusing on trembling on a hair trigger while the seconds stretched out.

Vira activated S.A.T.S. as soon as they bolted out, for once intentionally using the strange targeting spell instead of having it pop up on its own. She didn't trust her blurry vision against the speedy little bastards loping across the room, still surprised to find the two mangy dogs made it halfway across the room before being frozen in the act of leaping and weaving through the holes in the floor.

She used the entire spell charge, selecting beam spells targeting the chests of both hounds as they had the highest odds to hit. When time resumed, the first one frozen in the act of pouncing at her was vaporized into a cloud of glittering green ash. Her second shot missed however, the third coming out as a fizzling beam that barely slowed the remaining armored hound leaping right at her.

Vira heard Kelpie give a victorious whinny behind her as the beast hit, knocking her off her hooves and tumbling backwards through both the unfortunate unicorn and the now opened door. The green alicorn wrestled and rolled across the tattered carpet in a ball of snapping jaws and flailing wings, reflecting sourly on how weak she was to be brought down by a mere mongrel.

This one was vicious and well trained however, bits of junk from the factory welded into crude barding that mitigated the impact of her strong hooves. The jagged metal armor had even been sharpened and had spikes added to it, slashing at her exposed hide as the squirming thing bit the base of her wing and savagely shook it.

Stifling a pained scream, Vira rolled over on top of it, feeling its ribs snap with some satisfaction. She crashed into some kind of minibar with the tinkle of glass shattering around them, one sturdy bottle thunking right into her head and dazing her. The moment's hesitation was all the vicious dog needed, yipping in pain as it ignored its wounds to lunge at Vira's neck when her head flinched back.

Before it had the chance to rip her throat out, Kelpie came to her rescue. The brave little unicorn dove forward with a furious yelp, plunging her hunting knife in the dog's neck, twisting and tearing it back out in her magic. Both the gurgling attack dog and Kelpie collapsed on her in a heap, allowing Vira to blink down at the unicorn mare dizzily. "Didn't know... you cared... Thank you Kelpie..."

"S-Shut up bitch... of course I.. Shit! The door!" Kelpie's teal face turned red and she stammered scrambling back to her hooves, galloping over to the open door and easing it shut just ahead of the sounds of Trappers entering the outer office. Biting her lip nervously, she relocked it and breathed a shaky sigh of relief, sliding down the door to her rump and trembling. "Phew... Close one. You ok bitch? That mutt really... oh goddesses! You're bleeding all over!"

Vira was only vaguely aware of the wounds she'd taken, not feeling nearly the amount of pain as the little cartoon alicorn her pip-buck flashed at her sternly, fuzzily trying to read all the angry medical alerts the image with the Xs for eyes was trying to tell her about. Of more interest was the chilly fear and warm concern she felt from her companion tearing at her coat buttons to find the bleeding beneath.

Kelpie's words blurred into a strident buzz as Vira's vision faded, but she felt the swirl of emotion going on around the jabbering mare even as she passed out, giving a tired smirk and mumbling. "You are... nice pony.... Kelpie..."

(Drink it! Drink it you big brahmim! Keep on chugging them down damn you! Don't tell me you're watching your figure you fat ass virgin...)

"N-Not... fat...." Vira sputtered and coughed on the tingly liquid being forced down her muzzle, wheezing a weak reply to the thoughts that had been running a worried, if mildly insulting, refrain in her head and blinking up to Kelpie's teary blue eyes widening down at her.

"Bitch! Oh thank the goddesses! T-That's it, keep drinkin' it down, stay with me!" Kelpie sniffled and yelped back, fumbling to her side to twist the cap off another Zip! soda and tilting the green bottle to Vira's lips.

Doing as ordered and nearly choking on the radioactive beverage in Kelpie's hoof, Vira raised an eyebrow to the mare wiping her eyes gruffly beaming down at her. She had Vira's head in her lap, supporting her neck on her outstretched hindlegs and gently tilting her back to drink more like a motherly mare feeding her foal. When she managed to drain the bottle, the smaller unicorn helped her sit up carefully, feeling her full tummy sloshing as her blurry vision took in all the empty bottles rolling around nearby.

"Ooogh... I need to pee...." Vira smacked her lips and looked around slowly, focusing on Kelpie's upheld hoof moving back and forth in front of her face fuzzily.

She'd stood to get up to eye level with the alicorn sitting on her haunches in the well appointed office, giving a satisfied nicker as Vira's sparkling green eyes followed the motion well enough that Kelpie wasn't too worried about any more brain damage than the weird mare had started with anyway. Kelpie gave a titter of tired of laughter at the big bitch shifting on her flanks in an uncomfortable little pee-pee dance, sidling next to her and carefully helping Vira to her hooves with a smirking nod to a small door in the corner.

"I'm not surprised, I just kept pourin' sodas down your gullet until you stopped dying on me! We're both lucky whoever was in charge here liked their own product! Really, how was I supposed to get out of here if you keeled over on me Bitch? I could barely drag you around this one room!" Kelpie helped Vira up, cautiously releasing her and keeping her hooves up just in case the woozy looking mare decided to fall over again.

It took a moment to find her balance and take things in, slowly panning her head from Kelpie watching so closely, over to the office that was apparently safe from the Trappers outside. This one office was nearly the size of the large room they'd escaped from with the cubicles for several workers, the center piece being a large obisidian topped desk Vira leaned on for support. Her fuzzy eyes widened when they focused on the familiar shape of a Steel Ranger with a flash of panic, but a better look showed it was merely a life sized advertising cut out of one of the intimidating suits worn by ponies who'd hunted her kind in the past, this one bizarrely painted in Zip! Soda livery with the logo prominently displayed on the metal flanks. Nearby the startling decoration that looked to be one of many pieces of Zip! advertising on the walls, was a mini-fridge spilling flickering light out in the gloomy room, the numerous colors of a full stock of Zip! sodas explaining where Kelpie had found the lifesaving radiation.

All that took a back seat to the overwhelming demands of her full bladder however, Vira was relieved to find Kelpie guiding her towards the unobtrusive little executive washroom in the corner and pranced forward as soon as she spotted the porcelain throne. She trampled over the dusty bones in the floor, plopping down and giving a long sigh of blissful relief, trying to ignore how her rump overflowed the small seat and the brittle crack her ears flicked at warily. They drooped along with her shadowed eyelids, her tongue lolling out as a what felt like a few gallons of local soda ran through her.

Blinking up to Kelpie snickering at her melting on her seat, Vira blushed and fluttered her wings primly, crossing her hindlegs and curling the feathery appendages in to hide behind. "I-I am not putting on a show! T-This is most embarrassing Kelpie, not funny!"

Still smirking, the teal unicorn mare floated over another glowing blue-green bottle before turning around politely, rolling a blue eye back to peek past the curls of her red mane and chuckling. "Sorry, you scared me there Bitch. Peace offering? It's the good stuff, hardly ever find this out on the island."

Vira raised an eyebrow as she took the brightly glowing bottle, peering at the faded label showing a bold looking cream colored griffoness standing on her hindlegs with her feathery chest thrust out. Her hindpaw was possessively planted on a treasure chest, while the other seemed to be a peg leg. She was dressed as a pirate of all things... wearing a big pirate hat atop her green plumage and an ornate outfit to match, including a long, curved sword at her flank. Above this bizarre mascot was the standard old timey Zip! logo in gold font, more flowing script identifying this variety as; 'Captain Calaeno's Blend'.

Twisting the cap and taking a big swig, Vira's eyes opened wide and her cheeks puffed out as she struggled with the overwhelming fishy taste. Who in their right mind would make fish flavored soda!? It was disgusting! This was the 'good stuff'!? If it weren't for the sharp tingle of radiation dancing on her tongue, Vira would have spewed the vile brew out and aimed for the mare who'd tricked her into drinking it.

As it was, she forced herself to gulp it down, sticking her tongue out and pawing at it, trying to wipe the aftertaste away ineffectually. "Ick! Kelpie that is horrible! Aren't there more of those lovely green ones? Who in the world would want this stuff?"

To her surprise, Kelpie laughed and floated the half full bottle back, taking a sip and smacking her lips thoughtfully as she returned it and forcefully nudged it towards Vira's puckered lips. The psychic alicorn would hardly believe it if she couldn't sense the honest enjoyment coming from the harbor mare, but Kelpie actually did like it!

"Ahhhh... that's the stuff. What's the matter mainlander? Too much for your delicate pallete? You have any idea how much I could barter for with just one of these back in Fog Harbor? The fisherponies love it! Suck it up and finish it off Princess, Captain's Blend has got twice the radiation and three times the flavor!"

"They should have stopped at twice the radiation... but thank you Kelpie, very much... Are we alright? How long was I out?" Vira dutifully slugged the fishy beverage down, standing and flexing her wing as she trotted back out to the office for a real look around that wasn't distracted by the urgent call of nature.

She stuck her tongue out at Kelpie prancing over to the mini-fridge and pulling out more jingling blue-green bottles, sticking her nose up and focusing on the green bottles she spotted in there. Vira was still weak, but her worst wounds were healing and her wing was nearly restored. The worst of the ragged bites had been wrapped in magical bandages, knitting together under their imbued healing spells and her own biology converting radiation to recovery. She even had a few dregs of magical power back, so she felt slightly less defenseless as she explored.

"You weren't down long, maybe an hour? I'm pretty sure we're ok in here, they haven't even tried the door. I think they killed the Rainbow Crawler though, it got quiet not long ago and they came tromping through downstairs. Lots of cheering and patting themselves on the back I could hear from here. I think they're partying somewhere now." Kelpie followed along with her as Vira trotted about, peering at all the old black and white photos on the walls curiously.

"It's unfortunate they're no longer distracted, but at least if that monster is gone, we can get away without worrying about it. Nick and Longfellow must be worried... Allow me to rest and recover a bit more, then I believe I'll be up to flying us out of here. Woooo.... what is this...?" Vira sighed wearily as she took in Kelpie's report on their situation, continuing their circuit of the room and pausing at an odd display hung on the wall.

It was a gun... A very fancy magical energy weapon of some kind, sleek black and boxy, it had multiple gems of differing colors on a circular drum feeding into the barrel. It was longer than a pistol, but not quite a rifle either, only about as long as her fetlock and with an extended magazine to feed spark cells into. The smooth casing had the Zip! logo etched into the metal, trimmed in gold and with a small emerald dotting the I.

Floating it down from its stand made her pip-buck chime with new inventory, drawing Vira's attention to the item sorting function of the funny little device. It listed the weapon as 'Fizzlepop Special' and assigned a high value for it, however the arcano-tech device decided what things were worth. She had to puzzle over it a moment, but knew more about magical energy weapons than she did normal firearms and was able to identify it as a kind of Magical RSW, a Rapid Sparkle Weapon that was a bit like a ballistic submachine gun. Vira immediately liked it, tucking it in her saddlebags and looking over the display she'd taken it from.

There were several pictures of prewar ponies shaking hooves and posing, a few examples of ads hung nearby with logos like 'Put a little Zip! in your Zap! Zip! Soda is the official drink of choice for Tempest Technologies!'. A framed newspaper clipping nearby showed the name again, 'Tempest Technolgies breaks ground on Fog Harbor Research Center', this one showing a stallion with an elaborate mustache shaking hooves with a severe looking unicorn mare with a broken horn, the two posing before a shovel stuck in the dirt on a forest hillside. Vira wondered why a magical energy weapons manufacturer would partner with a small soda company, but wasn't above snatching the lovely weapon for herself.

Kelpie huffed as she moved on, rooting around in cabinets and drawers and tossing interesting bits to her saddlebags. "I haven't had a chance to go looting 'cause I was taking care of you, then you go grab the best looking salvage before I can get to it? Bitch..."

"Oh! I... I didn't mean to... Y-You may have it, I just..."

"Kidding! Jeez, calm down, I was just teasing Bitch. Don't big mutants like you joke around?" Kelpie laughed and continued her looting, her relief over Vira's recovery making her playful and pleasant.

"My sisters and I joked with each other, yes... Ah! For example, our mother was so fat, she counted her weight in megatons Hahahahaeh...heh? Get it? Megatons! I-It is funny... though I suppose you had to know our mother..." Vira huffed and scratched her head to come up with one of her favorites, though her snickering and hopeful grin wilted under Kelpie's confused blank stare.

Raising an eyebrow at Vira's blush and continuing in a more serious tone, Kelpie shrugged and kept scavenging. "Anyway, don't worry about that gun, I don't know how to use those things for shit, if you do then have at it. So, do you and your sisters really miss your tubby mom?"

"Of course! She was our mother, we all loved her very much and miss her a great deal. I may have come to question some of the things she did and disagree with her plans, but I would give much to see her again. I hadn't realized how much before I saw a vision of her on the island thanks to that toxic spring. I miss my sisters as well... I look forward to seeing them again and... making amends." Vira's reply was soft and wistful, her eyes watering as she searched her feelings.

She turned to the scrutinizing look Kelpie had turned on her, the smaller unicorn looking up and tilting her head to the tall alicorn with a warm feeling of empathy flowing off her as she spoke. "I miss Mossy too, she must be freaking out by now... We umm... we lost our parents too, so we know how it feels. Sorry about your mom..."

"And I am sorry about yours Kelpie. You know, you remind me of one of my sisters. Umbra was the one who stepped up when our mother died, protected those of my sisters she found and brought us together to the Commonwealth. I did not appreciate how hard taking on so much responsibility must have been and fought with her, but I am grateful to her now. Jar Head told me you did the same for him, his brother and your sister when you were all orphaned. It must have been difficult for you too." Vira smiled and bowed her head to the mare giving a surprised whinny, unable to suppress a giggle at the pride Kelpie was trying to hide that so reminded her of her purple sister back home.

"W-Well, if you can admit that about her, maybe those three might figure it out someday too. You better get down and kiss this Umbra mare's hooves if she put up with as much shit as I do. It's not fun being called a nag and bossy, just for taking responsibility and doing the dirty jobs nopony else wants to do. T-Taking care of a bunch of goofballs... being forced to grow up early while they get to keep being kids... I... I really try hard you know..." Kelpie huffed back, but her voice cracked and her blue eyes shimmered with frustrated tears as she spoke.

Seeing the tears and sensing the conflict behind them, Vira hesitated and tapped her hooves together anxiously. She was trying to be nice! She'd already made Kelpie cry by being cruel and regretted it enough, how had she screwed things up now? She could hear Kelpie struggling with herself proudly, the shame over telling 'this nosy mutant bitch' things she never admitted to anypony front and center in her mind. Vira meant what she said about Kelpie reminding her of her sister, if she couldn't express how she felt to the unicorn mare she'd just met, how could she ever tell Umbra?

Unsure what to do, Vira was guided by her feelings and those she picked up from Kelpie, wrapping her wings around her in a warm, reassuring hug and nuzzling her mane anxiously. "Shhh... I know you do Kelpie, I can sense how hard it has been for you. I am sorry... f-for everything. Perhaps you should tell them how you feel when we return? It is unfair for you to keep shouldering this responsibility alone. I didn't understand what my sister went through because she was proud and stayed strong for all of us. If she told me though, perhaps I wouldn't have had to learn the hard way by making so many mistakes... She could have relied on me and shared the burden instead. You and she both deserve to be your own mares, to have fun and not feel you must do it all alone."

It took a minute for the wire taught tension in the little mare relaxed, slowly melting into the hug and sniffling against Vira's chest. The psychic alicorn could feel how long it had been since somepony had simply held Kelpie and been strong for her, instead of the other way around. No wonder she was so grumpy, she'd taken on so much for so long... Vira could see it flitting behind her teary eyes, years of acting as the mom for their little group, fixing boo-boos, learning to clean, to sew, to repair things until they wore down to nothing, to cook with what meager food they could find, to manage their pooled caps and eke out a living for four young ponies. She'd changed what seemed like thousands of diapers for an infant sister born not long before their parent's death, saw the bucks off to scavenge and work every morning and greeted them when the returned to their little hovel every night with stories of adventure. Kelpie had been forced into a role she never wanted when she was just a filly, but she met the challenge and never broke down or complained. The harbor mare was so strong...

When she cried herself out, that stubborn pride came back like a mask as she pulled away and rubbed her bloodshot eyes roughly, sniffling up to Vira's kind look and giving a tired sigh. "A-Alright, alright... quit looking at me like that Bitch, y-you're making me feel pathetic blubbering like a baby. But umm... t-thanks... Vira... I'm sorry we got off on the wrong hoof, I thought you were trying to steal Jar away and... a-and it wasn't your fault. I should have told him how I felt, instead of waiting for the big dummy to figure it out on his own. Er... c-could we maybe, like, start over? Friends?"

Blinking down to Kelpie's outstretched hoof, Vira's green eyes grew wide and dark, filling her whole face and making the unicorn filly understandably nervous. When the big alicorn squeed and lunged into another, bone crushing hug this time, Kelpie wheezed and fought against the big galoot rubbing her cheek against hers happily as she babbled. "Yes! I would like being friends! Very much! Thank you Kelpie!!"

"Gah! Leggo already weirdo! You're squishing me! A-And keep drinking those! Hold your nose and chug it if you have to, the fishy ones worked best on you." Kelpie squirmed her way free with a gasp, shoving another disgusting blue-green bottle of Captain's Blend to Vira's muzzle just to ward her off.

"Bleck... Very well... I am feeling better though, let us continue your scavenging and rest, then we can escape and see all our other friends again soon! I can't wait to tell Nick and Longfellow we made up and I made another friend, they'll be so proud!" Prancing in place in a little dance, Vira grinned and returned to looking around the untouched office.

She was so happy, she missed Kelpie rolling her eyes and groaning, Vira's own eyes closed in a giddy smile as she went cantering about the office with her wings fluttering weakly and her tail flicking. Vira's blind prancing and remaining wounds and weariness conspired with her general clumsiness however, her undamaged wing flapping out and knocking a large portrait of the mustachioed stallion in charge down with a clatter that made them both wince.

Sheepishly looking back at her latest act of unintentional destruction, Vira joined Kelpie in goggling at the large black safe hidden behind the painting. She tilted her head at it in confusion, nearly knocked aside by Kelpie charging past her and planting her forelegs on the wall to peer at the complicated looking combination dial. The unicorn mare huffed at it a moment, then dove for the large desk and glowing terminal atop it, tapping away at the keys frantically as Vira turned to watch over her shoulder.

"You know how to operate those ancient terminal things Kelpie? You must be very clever... I know there's a way to open them up, but have never understood the concept. How is it done? The male is very good with computers, I would like to learn..." Vira's chin flopped down on Kelpie's sweaty, violet striped mane, peering over her horn curiously to watch as she clicked through menus and brought up a screen full of garbled text and characters.

"You're really gaga over this 'the male' buck, aren't you? Play a little hard to get anyway Vira... Terminals aren't that hard really though. I'm not great with them, but I learned a little bit of everything being the mom for everybody. This is like a backdoor, a log of things typed into this terminal, somewhere in all that crap is the password. See here, that's how many characters it is, and that's how many tries I have left. You can usually crack one of these with enough time, if you back out it resets, but you also get a fresh number of tries. Now let's see... what would this buck use as a password..." Kelpie didn't seem to mind Vira's interest, ignoring the watchful alicorn overhead and patiently clicking through the words she found buried in all the code.

Vira got the basic gist by listening to Kelpie's thoughts, finding the arcane and mysterious process of hacking a terminal easier to understand as Kelpie tapped her chin in thought and glanced at the portrait on the floor. She didn't get the technology very well, but Vira liked the psychological aspect of the process. It was figuring out what the long dead pony would pick as a password, something personal to them that others wouldn't know easily.

It took a couple tries, but eventually the string of characters reading 'SparkleColaSucks' jumped out from the remaining options and gave a positive beep when Kelpie selected it, the terminal booting up and displaying a list of menus Kelpie flicked through rapidly. There was inter-office sparkle mails that caught Vira's eye as Kelpie scrolled through them, several concerning Hippocratic Industries and Sparkle Cola in particular. It didn't seem like the local island company had a very good relationship with the megalithic mainland corporation. A few subject lines talked about lawyers and stolen recipes, buyout offers and corporate espionage...

These fell by the wayside as Kelpie found what she was after however, a simple command buried down the list reading; 'Open Safe? Y/N?'. Kelpie hit the Y key with a happy whinny and hopped up, prancing in place as the large safe's combination dial spun on its own and it gave a dull 'clunk!' before creaking open a few inches.

Kelpie yanked the heavy door open in her teal magic, leaping to the open safe then slumping when faced with its contents. She snorted and started tossing stacks of prewar bits and paper money aside, rooting around up to her barrel in the large safe and not finding anything she hoped for. The prewar bits and gems she shoveled out to her hindlegs were somewhat valuable, but the books and ledgers Kelpie kept tossing out to go whizzing over Vira's head were viewed as worthless.

"Dammit! Really!? Nothing good at all!?" Kelpie snorted and scrambled with her hindlegs to crawl all the way up into the safe in her frustration, bucking more books out and making Vira dodge the missiles.

Snatching one out of the air that looked particularly old and weathered, Vira unwound the leather tassel holding it closed and studied the hoofwritten journal with interest, reading aloud as she puzzled it out. "Zip Classic- Corn, Fruit, Acid, Water, Sugar... Hmm... I believe these are recipes of some kind Kelpie, are they worth anything?"

The harbor mare's mouth fell open as she wiggled her way around to face Vira, lunging out and joining her in flipping through the brittle pages with a manic yelp. "Holy shit! The Zip! secret recipe!? Fuck yes it's valuable! Sweet Celestia, they're all here! Zip Classic, Zip Refresh, Zip Quartz... oh my goddesses, Captain Calaeno's Blend! I could brew my own and sell them!"

"P-Perhaps we should burn that last recipe..." Vira stuck her tongue out and her stomach gurgled on looking over the list of ingredients. Raw fish, clams, crawdad shells and shrimp did not belong in a soda... no matter the weird tastes of the locals.

"No way! You got a gun, I'm taking this!" Kelpie yelped and hugged the old tome to her chest defensively, her automatic frown relaxing into a wary grin at Vira smiling and shoving her playfully. "T-Thanks Vira, this is really something. There have been legends about the Zip! secret recipe on the island forever, but nopony's ever found it! Hey, maybe these other books are worth something too!"

At that, the two mares worked together collecting all the ledgers and journals Kelpie had tossed out to the room, carefully examining each for anything of interest. Most were boring, company ledgers full of numbers Vira basically muddled through enough to see the Zip! Brewing Company had been in dire financial straights before the end. Sparkle Cola had apparently been very aggressive in their attempts to run them out of business and buy the family company out. The duplicate ledgers with different sets of numbers didn't look all that good either...

A few journal entries she flipped through rapidly explained the odd partnership with the magical energy weapons maker she'd discovered earlier though. An infusion of cash from the foreign based Tempest Technologies that had their hooves in a lot of businesses apparently, breaking in to Equestrian markets through numerous other partnerships and building an Equestrian headquarters in the port city of nearby Trotson.

Somewhat interesting, but Vira generally didn't care for delving into mysteries of the Old World often. She knew some ponies liked collecting information like this and figuring it all out, using the signposts of the past to discover treasures just waiting in the ruins. She was delighted to find her pip-buck seemed to be copying and cataloguing everything she read though, maybe she'd show it to some smart explorer who could make use of them.

She turned to Kelpie's gasp behind her, finding the unicorn mare had returned to the safe and dragged out what looked like several large photo albums. When she trotted over to take a look at her discovery, even Vira gave a surprised squeal at the treasure trove Kelpie had uncovered.

They were full of bottlecaps... Hundreds... Thousands of them! Every one was carefully placed in the album like a stamp collection, each one bearing the Zip! logo, but each one slightly different. The ones of the first pages looked positively ancient and crude, hoof made caps given a simple logo stamp. They grew more complex and artistic as Kelpie turned the pages with shaking hooves, going through years of Zip! brewing history apparently. The president had collected all the bottlecaps they'd used on their product over the years, what was a fairly worthless sentimental collection in the old world becoming a dragon's hoard of treasure in the wasteland.

"L-Look at all of them... we're rich! We found the Zip! treasure Bitch! We actually found it!! I... I-I'll split it with you... that's still a ton of caps and..." Kelpie stammered in a hushed voice as she looked up, floating three more photo album's down and growing dizzy on confirming they all had bottlecaps stuck to their pages.

Smiling softly, Vira nudged the offered album back, focusing on one particularly pretty green bottlecap for Zip! Emerald that had a green star on the bottom side and floating only it up to her trenchocat's breast pocket. "You need the caps more than I do Kelpie, and you know how to manage money much better than I do. This one is enough for me, the rest are yours. I'll keep it as my lucky bottlecap, a memento of making a new friend. You take the rest, but you must treat yourself with some of it! As I said, I know a robot mare who has a wide selection of pretty dresses that would actually fit you. We will go together and see Ms. Polomare and the others when we escape, we could take your sister along too! Ah, and my other friend Sumi! I would like that..."

Kelpie gave a snort and rolled her eyes at Vira's excited tone, but sighed and cracked a crooked grin to the hopeful alicorn. "Deal... We'll do a regular shopping spree with just us gals, you big goofball. It's something to look forward to once we get outta here anyway. T-Thanks Vira... Now let's pack all this loot up and get going if you're up to it. I'm ready to go home..."

"Home..." Vira blinked down and smiled at Kelpie's warm thoughts, seeing Longfellow's land and images of Kelpie's friends and family.

Her own thoughts of the gruff old stallion and synth detective she'd left behind there joined Kelpie's, realizing the word resonated with her for the first time since her mother died and Maripony had burned at the Destroyer's hoof. It wasn't the place itself, it was the ponies waiting there that made it home, as much as Trinity Tower and her waiting sisters there... Vira had a home...

Feeling her heart swell with the epiphany, Vira sniffled and gave a firm nod, standing and flexing her wings in determination. "Right... let's go home Kelpie."

The two mares soon crept out from their refuge and slipped back into the upper hallways of the Zip! Factory silently, making their way down towards the main entrance as the closest way out of the den of Trappers. Vira poked her head over the open gaps in the floor to the preserved gift shop below, but Kelpie's dislike of heights and the numerous dogs prowling around down there made just gliding down a non-starter.

Instead they followed fading signs and evacuation route maps still hanging on the moldy walls, finding stairs down near the gift shop. The progress they were making without meeting any resistance was both heartening and worrisome, especially as they seemed to be getting closer to the source of a lot of noise and shouting from the crazed Trappers. As they descended, Vira recognized it as amplified and scratchy music playing from something a lot stronger than a radio.

The upbeat tempo and reverberating bass shook the ceilings as they slinked through more empty rooms on the second floor, making their way to the next set of stairs down to the lobby. They had to slip by a break room full of wounded Trappers moaning to themselves, but made it to a long hallway leading to the labeled stairwell door with a sigh of relief. One more floor, then if they had to they could just make a break for it at the lobby. As soon as they hit open sky, Vira's wings would get them out of this mess and back to their loved ones. Vira had seen almost no pegasus or griffon Trappers and was willing to brave flying in the fog if it meant leaving these lunatics behind.

When they opened the heavy steel door to the stairs after a determined nod to each other, they both laid their ears back and flinched at the wall of noise blasting out of the open portal. A quick peek down the gloomy stairs showed a huge hole in the wall to the left, opening out on a wide chamber spilling out flickering light and a jumble of raised voices from dozens of Trappers. E.F.S. showed a sea of red that way before they quickly slid the door shut again, flicking their ears to make sure nopony heard that and was coming to investigate.

"Fuck! What now Bitch? They're having a freaking party between us and the exit! Do we go around? Back up to the roof?" Kelpie hissed in frustration, prancing on her hooves impatiently.

Casting her psychic senses around now that she had a little bit of energy to work with, Vira tried to pin down how many fog rotted minds were nearby and bit her lip, shaking her head weakly to her companion. "There are several guards up on the roofs again, those who are not either wounded or celebrating right here are all keeping watch for any other threats from outside. The front door is the least watched and we've gone more than halfway. I believe we can slip by, they are very distracted celebrating down there..."

Facehoofing with a groan, Kelpie nodded and checked her shotgun as she replied. "Ok then, I trust your call Detective Bitch. Sure you can stop being such a klutz long enough to sneak past? That big booty of yours isn't exactly hard to miss."

Vira nickered at Kelpie's smirk, sticking her nose up as she placed a hoof on the door in readiness. "I do rather wish I was one of my blue sisters at the moment, but I'm sure I can manage Kelpie. I'm not that big and clumsy, and I do not have a big..."

"Sure you don't, you're a petite little waif Vira." Kelpie interrupted with a snicker, lightening the mood before turning serious and placing her hoof on Vira's on the door handle. "C'mon, let's do this Bitch. We got it."

They opened it together, ducking into the booming noise of ancient show tunes and rowdy cheering like they were diving into the sea surrounding Fog Harbor and quickly shutting the door behind them. Vira followed Kelpie's lead, creeping like a cat with her head down low and her rump unknowingly stuck up in the air, trying to move as the stealthy little unicorn did and place her hooves in Kelpie's hoofsteps leading the way.

As they stalked down the gloomy stairway and approached the gaping hole in the wall, Vira picked up a delicious smell that made her tummy grumble. She flinched at the too-loud seeming noise and blushed at Kelpie's raised eyebrow staring back over her withers, but she couldn't help it. Something down there smelled wonderful and her body was running on fumes, a few gallons of soda hadn't touched her recently acquired appetite for normal pony food.

Smoke wafted in from the gap in the wall, drifting up in the large chamber outside from a small bonfire built below. Vira paused as they reached the gap, peeking over the edge just to take a look at the madpony party below. It was some kind of movie theatre?

That's what it looked like, a good number of the seats placed in neat rows facing the tattered screen had been torn up or moved, making a wide open space full of dirty ponies celebrating. They were surrounding the bonfire in the middle of the room, tending the huge, rainbow colored carcass tied to a spit and slowly rotating over the flames. Rainbow Crawlers might be one of the most dangerous and horrifying wasteland monsters Vira had ever encountered, but they were apparently delicious too...

A fan of light illuminated the movie screen, playing some kind of tourist guide movie on the Zip! Factory that showed it operating as it had before the end. Endless rows of clean and new bottles of soda whizzed by on conveyor belts, tended by ponies wearing mane nets, smocks and rubber hoof gloves. Vira watched a pair of prewar mares waved from doing their work, one of them removing the rubber glove from her hoof and sticking it on a bottle passing by, the two giggling mares waving at it zooming off down the line. The soundtrack had been fiddled with, Vira's sharp ears flicked at the muted voice track mumbling about the factory's operation and history, it was drowned out by the musical score though, the beat for the party going on below.

The Trappers squabbled over the meat they tore off the dead Crawler, slugged down bottles of Zip! and alcohol equally, indulged in scattered drugs, while some of them in the corners were outright rutting each other in a celebratory orgy. Just looking them over made Vira sick, sensing the collective madness they were reveling in.

A deep baritone ringing out drew her eye to the stage however, focusing on the sharp mind stamping a hoof in front of the flickering film. "That's right bucks and fillies, party hard! It cost us a lot of fine Trappers, but who led you to bring down a Rainbow Crawler!?"

"Dragonslayer!" The crowd shouted back in a rough cheer, falling in line with the charismatic leader instantly.

"Who's the best hunter on the island!?" The large earth pony stallion shouted out again, puffing his leather armored chest out and holding a hoof up to his ear with a flourish.

"Dragonslayer!!"

"Who took this fortress and killed old Fogscale single-hooved!?" The leader shouted again, still wearing that smarmy look and tossing back his bedraggled green mane.

"Dragonslayer!!!"

"And who's gonna lead all of you brave hunters on the great hunt!? Who's gonna bring down the three great beasts of the island, unite all the trapper crews out there, hunt down the harbor ponies, the rad lovers and the synths until this whole island is our private hunting reserve!?" This Dragonslayer pony built up to a crazed cheer, stamping his hooves and waving out to the crowd doing the same in a rhythmic roar that shook the stairs under Vira's hooves.

"DRAGONSLAYER!!!!" The gaggle of trappers screamed back, dissolving into a mob cheering and shoving each other wildly.

Vira had frozen during the lunatic's speech, glaring at him with her mouth open and her head buzzing as she looked him over closely. He was filthy like other Trappers, but somewhat cleaner and wearing more ornate armor over his dark red fur that was ragged and unkempt at his fetlocks and spilled over his cracked hooves. His mostly leather armor had a textured green appearance that looked like Radigator hide, while Miretank shells formed large plates at his chest and flanks. It was studded with bony claws and fangs from more dangerous beasts and held together with fish netting, decorated with feathers and other trophies. The most prominent ones were the fresh looking prismatic colored Rainbow Crawler claw strapped to his foreleg, and a large, curved tooth worn on a rusty chain necklace.

It was what she got out of his diseased brain that really made Vira pause. Everything he said were lies... First of all, Vira knew that Longfellow was the best hunter on the island, this crazed fool wasn't half his measure. Secondly, his bragging over the well practiced story about slaying the dragon and taking over the Zip! Factory that Vira heard flashing in his mind wasn't the truth either.

It was the plans he worked his minions up with that made her worry though, they were organized under this maniac, planning to become a force on the island and attack the other three factions currently vying for control. To hunt them all down... The harbor ponies and Longfellow, the synths and Sumi, the Robobrains of Stable 118 and Plaid, even the Church of Balefire Vira was fairly ambivalent about... they were all in danger if these Trappers were allowed to fester and grow like a tumor on the island.

"Bitch! C'mon! Don't just stand there like a lump!" Kelpie hissed at her and tugged Vira's foreleg still stretched down to the next step, startling the green alicorn and breaking her mental focus on Dragonslayer.

(Kelpie! That pony is lying! He is no Dragon slayer! He is dangerous though, he wants to hurt our friends!) Vira blinked back and answered telepathically, slowly following along with Kelpie's pulling.

"Trappers are all crazy assholes, who cares about that one! We have our own problems! What can we do about it anyway, other than get the fuck out of this madhouse and tell everypony in charge like Cap'n Berry!? Just hustle those oversized flanks already!" Kelpie whispered back in frustration, tugging Vira along with her as she crept backwards down the stairs.

Shaking her head briskly, Vira nodded and turned away from the ugly celebration. Kelpie was right, they couldn't do anything on their own. They had to escape and let others know of the threat here. Thanks to the dragon's centuries long presence, the Zip! Factory had been mostly ignored and the Trappers had been growing stronger in their fortress, unnoticed by the squabbling groups outside. They'd managed to kill the terrifying Rainbow Crawler after all, they weren't to be taken lightly...

They nearly made it past the gap in the wall safely, but Kelpie was still walking backwards to keep the ditzy alicorn focused on escape. Neither of them noticed the chain strung up in the shadows from the rotting ceiling, giving a surprised squeak at the sudden jingle of the tin cans tied to it when Kelpie's flicking tail brushed it.

The raucous cheering below was instantly silenced, every eye turning up to the broken wall and the two fillies frozen under their surprised stares. Vira turned to the silence and her wings fluttered anxiously, turning the stunned expression on Dragonslayer's face to an eager grin as he pointed a hoof up at them and shouted. "Fresh prey! An alicorn! Capture her, I want the horn..."

At his order, nearly every partying Trapper below scrambled to their hooves and charged out, boiling down the remaining rows of seats and towards the various exits with wild whoops of glee and cocking weapons. Still gaping at the awful thoughts swirling in Dragonslayer's mind about her personally, Vira yelped when Kelpie slapped her face and screamed. "Fuck! Run Bitch! Let's go!!"

Right... Stealth was abandoned and the two new friends galloped down the stairs together, Vira's longer legs and wing assisted leaps letting her take the lead as they hit the ground floor. The stairwell opened out on the vast lobby containing the original factory gift shop, more large gaps in the walls above letting them see Trappers charging by and taking up positions to fire down on them. The lobby was lit in flickering firelight from various barrels, the wavering shadows making it difficult to spot all the doors and gaps in the walls the Trappers were bolting out from.

There was a large fountain dead ahead with an oversized bottle of Zip! at the top that once spewed out water. In front of that obvious landmark was a wide set of double doors leading to the front doors of the factory. Only thirty yards separated them from freedom! Vira and Kelpie galloped through the hail of gunfire side by side, the smaller unicorn taking the cover the big alicorn offered even before she cast a flickering shield.

Vira's barrier wouldn't hold up long, but staved off the shots coming from the upper floors as they ran. Kelpie's double barreled shotgun boomed when one speedy Trapper charged out of the Gift Shop with a manic warcry, throwing him back to go sliding across the tiled floor leaving a long streak of blood.

A gaggle of more of the raider-like ponies were bolting out of a door up ahead, trying to block their route and throwing themselves at them with wild abandon. Still unable to risk burning up too much magic, Vira went for her newly acquired weapon, tugging the sleek black Magic RSW from her saddlebags and pulling the trigger from the flank.

The stream of rainbow colored beams that blazed out surprised her, her steps faltering as the rapid weapon spewed out a torrent of magical death. There was no recoil since it was an M.E.W., but the fire rate was insane! The round drum containing multicolored gem capacitors whirred and spun, each time a different colored gem lined up with the barrel, another bright beam of a matching color shot out. The first two Trappers were vaporized by the stream of fire, turning into a blue and red pile of sparkly ash as Vira struggled with the weapon.

She waggled it back and forth with the drum still spinning madly, the rainbow colored beams pouring out hitting another three Trappers scrambling to retreat. The handy display in her vision rapidly counting down in the corner of her eye worried her though, Vira didn't have a lot of spark cells and this thing ate through them so fast it wasn't funny! With the group barring their path in retreat, Vira saved what few rounds she had left and restrained herself to using short bursts at anything else in the way. Kelpie backed her up with her shotgun, but reloading both barrels each time made her slow and selective in her shots, not as helpful in dealing with a horde of crazed enemies.

Vira's dim shield shattered under a barrage of assault rifle fire, but they were close! She spread her wings in readiness as they neared the exit, sidling closer to Kelpie and preparing to scoop her up to her back as soon as they were clear. A loud 'twang!' and weird, warbling, whistling noise behind her preceded her raised wings suddenly getting caught and tangled in something, a spinning weight twisting around them and binding her wings together above her back. Vira had a moment to puzzle over it with a glance back, finding a series of ropes tied in fancy harbor knots and with heavy fishing weights tied to the ends. A makeshift bola... They'd bound her wings!

Vira sent another stream of magical beams back at the familiar form of Dragonslayer wielding the cobbled together launcher he'd used to do it. Casually loading another bundle of ropes and weights as more Trappers charging out around him ate the burst of wild fire. Her attention was drawn away from trying again with her last few spark cells when Kelpie gave a pained scream and stumbled next to her, staggering on in a rapid, three legged hop as she held her bleeding foreleg to her chest. Vira slowed and tried to lift her to her back in her telekinesis, but turning back for her friend gave Dragonslayer the perfect shot.

Another loud 'twang!' sounded out and suddenly Vira's legs were tangled up in a spinning bola of strong ropes, sending her falling face first to the floor and skidding to a halt near the fountain. Kelpie limped to her and yanked out her long hunting knife to free her, but a young earth pony Trapper leapt at her, tackling her away from helping the bound alicorn and bashing her head with a lead pipe from the factory.

Before Vira could do more than scream and struggle to help the captured unicorn, a cluster of more Trappers reached her, forming a dogpile on her so she couldn't move, then dragging her and Kelpie to the dry fountain with victorious cheers. Vira's legs were unbound, but only so the gleeful Trappers could spread her out, pairs of the filthy ponies holding one leg each, throwing her and Kelpie up to the lip of the fountain on their bellies.

Vira struggled and fought, but even her great strength couldn't overcome the pile of ponies pinning her down, leaving her to seethe and grit her teeth at their gleeful and sadistic thoughts. She glared up to the clapping hooves of Dragonslayer approaching as things settled down, her green eyes turning to a dragonish scowl.

The evil leader of the Trappers cantered up happily, giving a leering grin at the two fillies spread out before him. He walked right up on the lip of the fountain, prowling around the circular bowl to stand over Vira's puffing grimace with slimy, disgusting thoughts swirling around him. When he hopped back down at Vira's side and tugged the tails of her trenchcoat up to paw at her rump, Vira shuddered in revulsion and renewed her struggles frantically.

She could see it in his head, the ugly, cruel lust and enjoyment at making her suffer. It was the opposite of the warm feelings she sought out so fervently, turning something she was just starting to explore about herself into something vile. Just his touch was revolting, but what he planned to do before killing them was worse, a violation... a corruption of those nice feelings she'd have if it was the male stroking her backside like that.

Kelpie may have teased her for being an overgrown virgin, but she didn't want that taken away from her by this... this monster! It was her gift to give, a special experience she wanted to choose who and how she wanted to share it! Dragonslayer lining up behind her and leaning up to whisper in her ear made her feel sick and furious, cringing at the feeling of him pressing up against her and chuckling.

"Such a pretty catch... We can't let it go to waste, now can we boys? Us Trappers use up every little bit of our prey pretty filly, so there's not gonna be much left when we're done. Nice of you two cuties to volunteer as entertainment for our little party! Never caught an alicorn before... Glad the big boss gets first turn..." Dragonslayer's rancid breath puffed in Vira's ear and he licked her cheek with his slimy tongue, making her fur stand on end and skin crawl as she just kept seeing all the awful things he planned to do to her.

The brute grunted and shifted against her, making Vira gag as she felt him awkwardly pawing her flanks. She wanted to male to do this! For it to be her choice! To feel his love and caring, not the sadistic lechery and savagery from this evil pony! Vira thrashed and bucked in desperation, tossing the smaller Trapper ponies off her, only for more to jump in and gleefully hold her tighter.

They were a mass of hooves and muzzles swarming around her, groping her wings, licking and biting her back, rubbing their filthy hooves through her mane and tearing at her hard won detective's outfit. She could hear Kelpie screaming beside her under the same treatment, her head forced to watch by cackling Trappers holding her down. All the while the grunting, gloating Dragonslayer was sedately climbing up her back, bashing the back of her head when her horn sparked frantically and knocking aside her wide hat.

The impact dazed her and ended any more attempts at mental manipulation. The damage was done though, Vira gave a hard grin as all the expectant faces of the Trappers holding her down turned confused at their leader wilting away and turning redder behind her. Blood ran down from her mane and squinted one green eye closed, but it was worth it to shut off certain active signals from what passed for Dragonslayer's brain. No matter what happened, Vira quite doubted he'd be up to tormenting any other victims that way for a long while, if ever...

"O-On second thought, rads'll probably rot my cock off! Don't you or this little harbor cunt worry though, I've got plenty of other toys that won't feel nearly so good. Even toxic cunts deserve the Dragonslayer touch, right fellas?!" The shamed stallion finally slid off her at least, snarling and slashing at her flanks with his Rainbow Crawler claw in an attempt to win back the crowd, leaving deep gouges that stung horribly.

Mustering what resistance and flagging energy she could, Vira barked laughter, putting on her old, haughty and cold tone of a child of the Goddess. "Dragon slayer, ha! A limp dick liar is more like it. You slayed no dragon, it's still here... It's.. aha, that''s how you did it..."

Dragonslayer's face paled as Vira focused on reading his mind, digging through the defenses and grabbing at the jumbled thoughts that flashed up in response to her goading. She saw his secret... Having his mask torn away was not something the earth pony Trapper would tolerate though, overriding her with a loud shout and a painful hoof to her grinning muzzle that crunched and filled her mouth with the taste of blood, making the room spin and a roaring noise fill her limp ears.

He took a rusty metal club wrapped in barbed wire from one of his underlings trotting up, holding it in his teeth and bringing it up to Vira's teary face with a vicious smirk. "Shut up Outsider, nopony will believe you. I think I'd rather hear you scream for me... Hold her down tight boys, this cunt is about to..."

"Leave my filly alone ya nasty fog brain!" A gruff shout echoed in the large chamber, followed by a loud blast of a rifle hammering Dragonslayer's Miretank breastplate, knocking him back as all eyes turned up to the furious old stallion who'd fired.

"L-Longfellow?" Vira gaped along with all the Trappers, looking up to the old buck perched behind the gift shop sign on the roof of the preserved building in the lobby, happy, relieved tears flowing down her cheeks as she sensed the absolute rage he felt on finding her in this position.

There were three dead Trappers in the hole in the wall leading to his perch, taken out silently by the true best hunter on the island, before he revealed himself to protect Vira. He worked the lever action of his rifle in his hooves rapidly before the stunned Trappers recovered, firing again at Dragonslayer and sending him prancing back, shouting furiously at the intrusion.

Most of the leering crowd of Trappers that had gathered at the fountain to watch and have their turn at violating the two mares darted for cover, whooping and firing back at Longfellow as another victim to overwhelm. Several remained where they were however, keeping Vira and Kelpie pinned and using them as living shields as much as possible. Vira was disgusted to find some were mad enough to keep right on groping her while they shot their crude weapons at the brave old buck, a little gunfire and their fellows being blasted by the rapid bark of Longfellow's rifle no discouragement to their sick fun.

A gaggle of the Trappers ran for the nearest set of stairs that would take them up to Longfellow's level, the high pitched 'beep-beep-beep!' noise Vira's ears flicked at hopefully nearly drowned out by their thundering hooves. The resounding explosion of the mine going off blew the crazed cluster to smoking bits, the haze of smoke and bloody chunks obscuring the two familiar shadows that leaned out from the doorway and started firing at the screaming survivors and Vira's captors.

"C'mon dollface! The calvary's here, so make yer move and buck those slobs off! Let's go!" Nick's Trotson accented voice called out and filled Vira with joy, the synth detective coming to her rescue and hammering the Trappers with his .45 revolver.

A spry and younger stallion shape charged out next to him, swinging a wickedly barbed fishing spear in his brown muzzle and shouting frantically as the tough earth pony buck knocked Trappers out of his path. "Kelpie!! Miss Vira!! We're here!"

Seeing Longfellow, Nick and even Jar Head gallantly charging to their rescue brought Vira back from the despair and disgust she'd just felt. They came... It took them time to follow Vira's flight leading the Rainbow Crawler away from Longfellow's land, but the best tracker on the island had found them, her employer hadn't abandoned her, the handsome local buck had put everything else aside to help them... Her friends came to help when she needed it...

The rising joy and warm, fluttery feeling in her heart on seeing them leaping into the fray filled Vira with reserves of strength, giving her the hope she needed to dig deep for the last scraps of her flagging energy. Giving a low growl, Vira planted her hooves on the crumbling fountain and gave a titantic buck, dislodging several of her captors and knocking a few into the ones holding Kelpie down.

They'd been so focused on tormenting them, the Trappers hadn't disarmed their prisoners yet, a mistake Vira took advantage of with a hard, predatory smile as she snapped the neck of a unicorn Trapper struggling to pin her down again with a vicious sweep of her foreleg. Vira tugged her new Fizzlepop Special weapon out and held the trigger down, waving the rapidly spinning RSW around her in a circle until the clip ran dry. With the flailing Trappers huddled around them at point blank range, she didn't need to be very accurate...

Half a dozen Trappers were torched into multicolored piles of ash before she ran out of ammo, thinning the herd nicely and also freeing Kelpie. The furious and crying unicorn filly blasted one of the survivors with her recovered shotgun, snatching Vira's hat from the floor as she ran for Jar Head fighting his way to them and calling back to Vira worriedly. "C'mon Bitch! Let's go!!"

A well aimed buck sent one of the few remaining nearby Trappers sailing across the lobby, drawing Vira's attention to the swarm of others realizing they had more intruders than just the old stallion still screeching and dropping one enemy after another from his unassailable perch. Vira heard more beeps and explosions shaking the building, clouds of smoke puffing out from the holes in the walls all around Longfellow. They were trying to flank him and he'd prepared a few surprises apparently, using traps against the Trappers... How poetic...

"Let's go you nitwits, can't keep this up all day! Vira! Move it ya silly filly!" Longfellow's gruff shout masked the worry and anger he was trying to keep a tight hold of, focusing Vira's loopy attention on the old buck waving her forward desperately.

He was seeking out Dragonslayer between well placed shots, still apoplectic over finding the slimy buck pawing at 'his filly', he said that... he thought that... Vira was his little filly in his mind, he failed to save one daughter, but now he was getting a second chance and would die fighting these disgusting Trappers if that's what it took. His wonderful caring emotion helping Vira stagger after Kelpie meeting Jar Head in a rushed embrace, the three of them quickly heading for the door Nick defended and the way out flashing in his synthetic mind.

The old detective was reloading in a rush when they dashed through the door, shaking spent casing from his revolver with a cheery grin to his grateful assistant panting down at him. "Heya sweetheart, guess this rates hazard pay, huh? You alright doll?"

Nick had very hard, angry thoughts as he looked over the tall green alicorn, his strange but kind yellow on black eyes roving over the bleeding wounds and her puffy face. If escape weren't forefront in his thoughts, Nick had a powerful urge to hunt down the prick who'd done the damage himself.

Instead he trotted along at Vira's side as Jar Head ran ahead, leading the way down the escape route clearly mapped out in his mind, while Vira leaned against her boss as they stumbled up a set of stairs and nodded weakly. "We will be fine, just as soon as we are far away from this madhouse Nick. Thank you... f-for coming to save us... I thought..."

"Don't you spend another second thinkin' on it dollface. If the old timer has his way, that sick bastard is gonna regret ever touching you. Let's go grab him and get goin', before he goes a little overboard on the ol' 'don't touch my daughter' routine, eh?" Nick gave a worried smile and urged her on, trying to hide his own boiling thoughts that agreed with Longfellow's response completely where his precious assistant was concerned.

They hit the second floor and galloped down the musty hallway it opened on, Jar Head and Kelpie in the lead, their fishing spear and shotgun at the ready to attack the Trappers charging out of connecting hallways and rooms in their path. Kelpie fired on a crazed pink mare lunging out of a hole in the wall with a fire axe in her teeth, panting to Jar Head covering her from the second leaping over the mare's corpse as she reloaded in a rush. "W-Why are we going up!? The doors were right there! N-Not that I don't appreciate the rescue boys, but really?"

"We gotta get Longfellow! Plus we got a ride waiting Kelpie, it's just this way! Don't argue and nag for once, just come on!" Jar Head mumbled around the shaft of his spear and snorted, the fear and worry for his friend making him snippy in the heat of the moment.

He was interrupted by a big earth pony Trapper roaring as he charged down a side hall, swinging his spear to meet the threat and brought up short when the crazed pony yowled in pain and hit the floor. His foreleg was nearly snapped in half by a rusty bear trap, allowing Nick to casually blow his brains out as they passed and met Longfellow galloping down a hall to the the left to meet them.

The old buck took up Vira's other side, helping her keep stumbling her way in a straight line and giving her a concerned nuzzle with his bristly beard that made Vira whinny happily. "You ok lassie? The difficult bit's up ahead, then we're home free. W-We'll get you outta here and back home, we're nearly there honey, just hang on!"

Their running firefight climbed another flight of stairs and kept weaving its way towards the rear of the Zip! Factory, ending at a heavy steel door opening on a vast chamber full of ancient machinery. The five friends skidded to a halt at the ragged edge of steel catwalks that once ranged above the huge factory floor below them. Now several large sections had fallen away, leaving them with a view of the bubbling vats and conveyor belts spread out before them.

They were in the bottling plant itself now, not the offices Vira and Kelpie had been sneaking through so far. The modern machinery was rusting away to ruin, but still absolutely filled the giant, echoing chamber. Far below their hooves, Vira could see the bottom of the factory floor was flooded with seawater towards the back, several large passages leading towards the loading bays for ships to the mainland. There were more of the steel mesh catwalks below at varying levels, leading all over the place with rotting boards placed down to cover the gaps present there too.

There were conveyor belts with strings of broken and tipped over bottles of Zip! Soda, all of them empty and leading towards a large gap in the machinery that looked like it had been torn out by some creature with incredible strength and large claws... Vira noted curiously it looked to be where bottlecaps would be stamped onto the bottles, a very valuable gadget in the wasteland that somecreature had already got to.

Directly below them were the huge vats of soda itself, waiting centuries to fill the waiting bottles. Several large and open vats were full of various colors of soda, dark brown, milky white, deep purple, glowing green and aquamarine... Hundred of gallons of the local flavor sitting here, stirred by tiredly squeaking, squealing, clattering machines still chugging along automatically.

Looking up to their level again, Vira saw Jar Head was cautiously stepping out to a long pipe leading across the room. It wove its way over to other sections of catwalks still hanging on, connected together in a rickety looking path to a modular capsule control room on the other side, the dim flicker of an exit sign the apparent goal.

Kelpie balked at Jar turning and waving her out after him soothingly, shivering as she put a trembling hoof on the rusty pipe and squeaking when it groaned. Trappers were pouring in to the factory below, firing up at them and making the crossing even more perilous.

Nick had to reluctantly leave Vira's side, trotting up to the anxious mare and reassuring her in a kind but stern voice shouting over the gunfire. "C'mon doll! I'm right behind ya, but we gotta move! Just don't look down!"

Vira groaned at his well meaning advice, watching tiredly as Kelpie did exactly what he said not to as soon as he said it. Kelpie's teal face paled and she skittered away from the ragged edge with a fearful whine, the view of a bubbling vat of Zip! Emerald below her hooves washing her in a wave of vertigo.

She had to limp her way forward and give the shaking mare a nudge with her muzzle, holding her shrunken blue eyes and using up a bit of magic to soothe her psychically. "Kelpie... you can do this. We are all right here, I will not allow you to fall. Surely you don't want Jar Head to think you're a scaredy-pony, hmm?"

"E-Easy for you to say with those wings you big bitch... I-I'm not losing to you though, s-so... just be ready to catch me!" Kelpie snorted and stood up to Vira's gentle teasing, mustering her courage and sticking her nose up as she stepped out to the pipe and hugged it to her barrel, inching her way along like a pony shaped catapillar.

Considering Vira's wings were still bound above her back in the tight ropes of Dragonslayer's bola, she rolled her eyes at the unicorn's complaint but held her tongue. Instead, Vira grit her teeth and lit her horn in a layer of overglow, draining the last of her magic to produce a dimly glowing shield between Jar Head helping Kelpie along and the Trappers shouting and shooting up at them. It wouldn't last long, but the least Vira could do was protect her friends during the crossing.

Nick followed Kelpie's torturously slow progress, trotting out on the narrow pipe easily with perfectly programmed, gyroscopic balance. Apparently he just disliked flying, not heights in general like poor Kelpie. Longfellow had taken up a position at the bent railing behind them, blazing away with his rifle to cover them as Vira sat beside him and did the same with her magic.

Once they reached the first island of remaining catwalks and moved on to the beams of the rafters for the next crossing, Vira gave Longfellow a weak shove towards the pipe. He grumbled and tried to be stubborn, but Vira was his match when it came to being hard headed, huffing and pushing the smaller earth pony along. "Go Longfellow! I must focus to maintain this spell! I will be right behind you!"

"Grrr... Fine! I want you right on my tail though missy! No running off again!" Longfellow groused and fired down at a Trapper attempting to throw a molotov up at them, the firey missile shattering down among a gaggle of Trappers that dove off the catwalks to the flooded floor below.

Despite his orders, Vira let Longfellow get well ahead of her before putting a hoof down on the rusty pipe, biting her lip at the groan of tired metal as soon as she put her weight on it. With her wings bound, she couldn't even use them to help balance, carefully inching her way out while maintaining her flickering shield, using the feathery tips tied straight up above her back to at least lessen her weight bearing down on the unsteady path.

"I am not fat... I am not fat... I am NOT fat..." Vira muttered sourly to herself at every creak and groan, but kept her eyes on Longfellows grey tail and put one hoof in front of the other.

Jar Head, Kelpie and Nick had made it to another firmer stop along the makeshift junk, shooting down at the swarming Trappers and trying to psych Kelpie up enough to make the final leap over a gap to the open doorway to the control room and exit. It took long enough that Longfellow and Vira caught up, crowding the small platform that once had a convenient bridge to the doorway they wanted. Now the wide gap just led straight down to a foul, fishy smelling, blue green vat of Captain Calaeno's Blend, making Vira wrinkle her nose and stick her tongue out as she joined the other's efforts and convincing the frightened unicorn mare.

"Kelpie, we gotta go! I'll jump across and show you how easy it is. I'll be right there to catch you, I promise!" Jar Head's worried voice was the best medicine for the poor filly, tilting her muzzle up to meet his determined gaze and bump noses, before he made a running leap and skidded to a landing in the control room.

He turned immediately and tried to make it look easy, holding his forelegs out and waving Kelpie forward frantically. Kelpie bit her lip and took one more inadvisable look down, but turned to Vira with a whinny and warily hopeful look. "Y-You won't let me fall, right Vira?"

"Never... Go on, show him how brave you are Kelpie, I'm right behind you."

Eyeing the space she had and taking a few steps back, Kelpie nodded and clenched her eyes shut, charging forward and making a flying leap out into the open space with a shrill scream. She should have looked where she was going however, misjudging when to jump and doing so early. Her arc peaked too soon, a bright wave of panic filling her mind as she peeked and scrambled her hooves in the empty air.

Hissing with effort, Vira surrounded the unicorn mare in a dim field of her telekinesis and gave her a boost, tossing her to Jar Head's open hooves that caught her in a strong embrace, falling back to the control room together and making room for the others.

Nick wasted no time, tipping his battered brown fedora to his assistant proudly in recognition of the effort she put in to do that. His eyes hung on her pale, sweaty face and tired green eyes, but the increasing gunfire left no time to quibble. Nick made the jump easily, turning back for Longfellow and Vira with his revolver drawn and firing at the first Trappers to follow their course and come bursting out of the door they'd taken in to the factory.

"You're not taking my prey away you old poacher! That mutant cunt is mine! I promised the boys entertainment and she looks sturdy enough to last! Bring 'em down you worthless fucks! Whoever brings the alicorn down gets first crack at her!" Dragonslayer was among that group, still hiding behind his minions and shouting across the difficult to cross expanse.

Just his voice filled Vira with revulsion and fear, she felt her legs trembling at his vile thoughts of the things he wanted to do to her. She'd never thought much of raider's propensity for rape and torture before, viewing it as just another form of cruelty from lowly insects that didn't deserve the glory of Unity. Never saw how it was a different, more insidious kind of assault than things like skinning their victims alive. Now she had changed, the idea of that monstrous pony touching her... violating her like that... Taking something beautiful and warm and turning it into a weapon... She'd never felt such terror before and suddenly sympathized with all the examples of raider's doing that to fillies and bucks alike she'd seen over the years.

She nearly froze feeling it all crashing down on her with Dragonslayer's sneering voice, flinching back and trembling from the barrage of bullets his crew of Trappers were sending their way. It was the burning torch of Longfellow's hate and rage at the evil Trapper that got her to look up, the old buck screaming himself hoarse as he kept firing his long rifle at Dragonslayer exclusively. He felt protective of her, in a blind rage over the sight of savage that dared touch her like that.

It also presented a problem, no matter how good his love underlying the anger felt. Longfellow had tunnel vision, only focusing on Dragonslayer and leaving himself exposed to keep shooting at him ducking behind his followers. He was wounded and blood spread in spots on his dark peacoat here and there, but too enraged to retreat until he killed that stallion, ignoring Nick, Kelpie and Jar Head shouting for them to hurry and trying desperately to cover them with their meager weapons.

"Sorry about this Longfellow..." Vira murmured and lined up her tail on the old buck, rearing back and bucking him hard enough to send him flying across the gap and to the others waiting to catch him.

He gave an indignant squawk and struggled against Jar Head's strong hooves holding him back, straining to reach the door and Vira prancing back for running room. The whine of bullets filled the air around her, some impacting her armored maroon coat and upheld wings straining against the ropes to flap and help as she charged forward.

Her long legs crossed the small platform in no time, coming together as she hit the edge and leapt. The ropes binding her wings creaked under the force of them trying to hold her up, but the bindings and gravity weren't going away, leaving her to make the jump the earth pony way. She was confident however, years of flying let her judge her arc of descent and speed in an instant as she hit the apex, her forelegs stretched ahead of her and her hindlegs and tail whipping behind her. Vira was sprawled out to her full, impressive length in a moment of frozen time, smiling to the waiting faces of her friends ready to catch her and cheering her on.

It was ended by a loud 'fwoomp!' sound and a blinding pain in her back, throwing off her leap to a panicked fall that smashed into the ragged metal edge of the missing catwalks at the door. Her forelegs scrambled at the doorway and her chin was at Nick and Longfellow's hooves, the two bucks grabbing a foreleg each and desperately trying to haul her weight up.

Looking behind her, Vira saw why she could hardly breathe. A long harpoon had pierced her back just below her wings, fired by the smirking Dragonslayer cooly watching his Trappers stumbling across the rickety path, feeling nothing for the ones who fell and grim anticipation for the ones who were howling for blood as they crossed and shot wildly.

Vira struggled and strained to pull herself up, but she had nothing left. She was too hurt and exhausted, coughing up bubbling blood that flecked on Nick's pale face. Looking up to Longfellow straining and puffing to pull her, she saw the tears flowing down to his scruffy beard as she slipped further back. He wouldn't stop trying to save her, even if it got him killed...

Giving another teary glance behind her as she slid another inch while Jar Head and Kelpie dove forward to squeeze in at the door and find a hoof hold to pull, she saw Dragonslayer loading that harpoon gun again and gulped. The one already puncturing her lung was making it impossible to get a breath and climb. The next shot would be too much, or it might hit the others instead... Her eyes fell in misery and looked over the long drop below, hanging on the bubbling blue green vat below her.

"I gotcha... nngh! J-Just hang on darlin'! Rrrggh! N-Not... lettin'... you... falll!" Longfellow wheezed down to her reassuringly, images of his poor daughter Emerald falling from the seaside cliffs flashing in his mind as he dug his hooves in and still skidded forward.

"Longfellow... it's alright... You have to let go... It will be ok... I love you..."

The old stallion paled and fought harder at Vira's words, all the pain he'd lived with since his little filly's death welling up in his chest. The alicorn mare simply stopped trying as she heard the click of Dragonslayer's harpoon gun, her hooves slipping from Nick and Longfellow's grasp, a few stray hairs of her mane caught by Kelpie's clicking teeth when she lunged after her and hung off the edge, watching Vira plummet to the bubbling vat below and disappear down into the glowing blue-green depths.

Longfellow's pained scream echoed in the factory, collapsing at the edge with, Nick, Kelpie and Jar Head howling in unison. "VIRA!!!"

Longfellow remained hanging off the edge and staring where Vira's flowing mane had disappeared into the vat below for several long minutes, bitter tears streaming down his face and falling to the ocean of soda. The sounds of the hooting, cheering Trappers, the gunfire, the sparks off the metal door around him, none of it mattered. He let her fall... again...

The pair of fellow harborponies, Kelpie and Jar, were perched to either side of his hanging head. The bossy little mare he'd let live on his land even rubbing his back and sobbing beside him, while the young buck looked furious, standing at their side and unslinging his rusty harpoon gun to scream and fire on the jeering Trappers.

For his part, Nick unhurriedly reloaded and continued firing, raising a plastic eyebrow at the glowing gunk his mare friday had fallen into and waiting... Not that he wasn't worried for her, but the old detective had a hunch...

There were no direct paths to the control room they huddled in, so the frustrated Trappers were swarming to other areas of their maze, trying to find a way to reach them. The leader of their rats nest here stayed where he was, laughing across the gap separating them and trying to goad the old asshole out again. "Ha! Got her! We'll fish her out, stuff her and mount her! In more ways than one old timer, bwahahaha! That's what she gets for messin' with the Dragonslayer!!"

"You're no dragon slayer..." The ugly puice Trapper mare standing beside him suddenly spoke up, her eyes glowing green as she casually turned to the stunned Trapper leader and spoke in a dreamy voice.

The crazed stallion slashed out with the chitinous claw strapped to his hoof to silence her in a panic, slicing her throat open to gush blood and foul the vat of Zip! Classic brewing below them. Before the silence that fell after suddenly killing one of his own had passed however, a scarred blue Trapper stallion spoke in the same voice, his eyes glowing green as well.

"You never killed Fogscale..." The dazed looking Trapper turned his head slowly to Dragonslayer, a mechanical smirk slowly spreading on his features as the sputtering leader aimed his harpoon gun at him speaking from a lower catwalk. "You lied... the great Dragonslayer, going into the dragon's lair as..."

With a shout and soft 'fwoomp!' from his weapon, Dragonslayer silenced this dissenter as well, giving a hysterical shout when one of the Trapper ponies carefully crossing the beams and pipes above the factory froze midstep and picked up the thread. "...as a colt and slaying the dread Fogscale... Quite a reputation you built for yourself based on dumb luck and a lie."

The pale stallion that spoke didn't even wait for Dragonslayer to shoot him, grinning cheerily and tipping a wink to Longfellow's stunned face, then simply stepping off his precarious perch and falling to the factory below with sickening cracks and crashes.

"T-That's me girl..." Longfellow sniffled and beamed, shaking off the sorrow that had threatened to swallow him up and standing on firm hooves with new hope shining in his heart. "C'mon you lot! We're all gettin' outta here, once my Vira's done givin' these fools what for!"

The old buck outright laughed when another Trapper on a walkway near the ground floor shouted up, grinning like a colt as he shoved a confused Kelpie and Jar Head away from the door and towards the exit. Kelpie had to be dragged away from staring at the glowing blue-green vat of Captain Calaeno's Blend, she could swear it was actually getting lower, dropping down an inch at a time in slow pulses. Nick just gave a mysterious smile and chuckled, lighting a cigarette and leaning against the metal doorframe to watch the show. He knew his assistant was a tough cookie...

Dragonslayer screamed at the new underling throwing his forelegs wide and inviting the quivering harpoon that shot down and speared his chest. A dingy yellow mare wading around in the flooded ground floor paused from her gallop and continued in a lilting, teasing tone, strolling along towards the ancient loading bays as she spoke.

"I mean it was clever to lead a feral rad-dragon down to the secure storage for the docks and lock it up, you didn't even need to lie about it. But you're a small, pathetic little stallion, aren't you?" The Trapper mare trotted towards the flooded passageways as Dragonslayer reloaded, but his frantic fumbling was cut off by a glowing fountain of Captain's Blend shooting up from the vat below, a large green shape erupting out and up.

Vira spread her wings and snapped the remaining ropes easily, her flowing green and lilac mane rippling around her and her wounds completely healed. She was also a good deal larger... straining the limits of her battered trenchcoat and crackling with power, sneering down at the gaping Dragonslayer as his harpoon gun clattered to the steel walkways.

Flapping sedately above it all, Vira's lidded eyes flicked over the frozen buck and she smirked. "A very small stallion indeed... aren't you, Mittens isn't it? Knit Mittens? Such a cute name to go with a wimpering little colt like you."

Dragonslayer... or Mittens' face glowed bright red under Vira's raised eyebrow, stamping his hooves and sputtering up to the hovering alicorn who'd paralyzed the now snickering Trappers watching the back and forth. "S-Shut up! I... I'm the Dragonslayer!! I took this factory! I killed the dragon!"

"Oh? Then you won't mind if I send your henchpony down there to open the door, will you? Luckily a new friend explained how to open the terminal sealing it, and I don't even have search for the password with it blinking in guilt ridden neon in your fog rotted brain. MittensRulz should do the trick dear, off you go..." Vira giggled and turned to the still trudging Trapper mare down below, her blank, glowing green eyes sparkling along with Vira's horn, then giving a sleepy nod and wandering off down the flooded passageways to Dragonslayer's horror.

"I'm sure you'll be fine if there really isn't a captive and very angry dragon down there... If there is... consider it my thank you for your unwanted affections... We'll just see ourselves out. Good luck!" Vira grinned and spun in the air with a bow, swooping towards her friends and folding her wings in at the last moment to fit in the doorway.

It was a squeeze and she frowned with her rump got stuck for a moment, but Vira pulled herself through before the Trappers collected themselves and started firing again. Dragonslayer's crazed screams drifted in behind her as she trotted over to her friends. "Stop her! STOP THAT CUNT! Don't let her get down there!!"

There was confusion among the Trappers now, torn between the escaping prey and their leader's orders to kill one of their own. It was enough to make their escape anyway, allowing Vira to plant her hooves and briskly shake herself somewhat dry, splattering her smaller friends in a shower of fishy soda.

She smiled brightly when she stood to her full height, brimming with energy and happiness at the chaos below and the warm feelings of relief from Longfellow and the others. She tutted on inspecting her poor trenchcoat, finding the sleeves had rode up her fetlocks and she'd bust a button or two at her wide barrel. She'd soaked up as much radiation as she could in a rush, so she'd wound up a little plus sized again...

Vira giggled and rolled her eyes at Kelpie simply gaping up at her with her mouth hanging open, gently pressing a large green pinion to her jabbering lips and narrowing her eyes. "Don't say it... I am not fat Kelpie, just a little overcharged is all. Are you all alright?"

The teasing helped Kelpie snap out of it as the big alicorn looked them all over worriedly, shaking her head briskly and trying to get over the idea of the big bitch getting even bigger. At least Jar Head had seen it before, explaining soothingly and trying to lead her to the exit. Longfellow threw himself against the floof of fur at Vira's breast when she turned to him, squeezing her in a tight, strong hug she curled her wings in to return softly.

Blowing lazy smoke rings and watching the reunions with a small smile curling up on his synthetic muzzle, Nick strolled to the exit door, gulping and turning serious with an enraged roar shook the factory from below. "Well folks, unless we wanna meet this dragon up close and personal like, how about we hit the road? Like now?"

Another roar and the fwoosh of flames heating the air all the way up to their high perch in the rafters punctuated the synth detective's point, everyone clattering to their hooves and rushing the exit Nick held open impatiently. They charged out to the open twilight skies above the Zip! Factory rooftops, Vira and Kelpie looking up in relief to breathe free air again. The moon was rising above the giant Zip! bottle standing before the pink smokestacks crumbling to ruin, the twinkling stars peeking out above them and the smell of the sea filling their nostrils.

More roars and shudders to the huge stone building kept them moving, tripping and stumbling each time the rooftop shook as they followed a trail of dead Trappers, taken down by somepony skilled at stalking and killing with a hunting knife. A little grim to take pleasure in their deaths, but Vira couldn't help but smile at the old stallion racing at her side, Longfellow'd gone on quite the killing spree to save them...

To Vira's confusion, the fog shrouded island was at their backs and the sea stretched out ahead, though she didn't doubt Longfellow taking the lead to fire his rifle at panicking Trappers racing across the rooftop along covered catwalks and rotting asphalt. They took a turn to one of the rickety catwalks descending the outer wall, racing down the stairs and towards the sounds of the lapping waves. It led down to a long, straight section covered by rusting metal panels, passing a door back into the factory a screaming fireball shaped like a pony burst out of ahead of them. The screeching mare never even saw them, galloping down to an open section of the walkway and throwing herself off the railing to the rocky shore below, streaming bright flames the whole way.

When they followed the roasted mare's hoofsteps and came out into the open again, Vira saw their destination and gasped in surprise. A rusty old fishing trawler was anchored below, bobbing along with the tide in the foggy waters surrounding the rocky island the factory was built on. It had a dark blue hull, the flaking paint at the prow reading; Ocean's Bounty.

"A ship?"

Panting as they ran down another set of stairs and got closer to the getaway ship, Jar Head answered Vira's curious exclamation with a grin. "Longfellow stole it!"

"I didn't steal it! It's my ship dammit! I let them fools in town borrow it so it wasn't going to waste, but she's my boat, I'll take it back if I want!" Longfellow rasped as the old buck struggled to keep up with his younger, synthetic or super charged companions.

"Those fisherponies sure didn't see it that way mac... Glad you had it around to... eh... let's say borrow though. We tracked you with your pip-buck there dollface, but it would'a taken forever crossing the island to catch up. Your grumpy buddy there really came through sweetheart, Longfellow there was worried about you..." Nick chuckled up to Vira, giving a subtle nod to the elder stallion puffing along with them.

Longfellow gave an indignant yelp when Vira's magic surrounded him and yanked the stallion to her broad back. He didn't have a chance to complain when Vira simply jumped over the railing as the flaming Trapper had done however, spreading her wings to glide along beside the others still charging down the rickety stairs rusting away to nothing as they neared the salty water. Vira spotted the rope tied to the broken end of the stairs and the tiny raft at the other end, banking that way and circling as the others slid down, allowing Vira to grab the thick harbor rope in her teeth and pull her friends to Longfellow's ship on a Fog Harbor sleigh ride.

Her dear friend sputtered and drummed his hindlegs against her ribs in a tantrum over being marehandled like a foal as she flew across the waves and bounced the little raft on the swells, but stilled when Vira tossed her sopping mane and smacked him in the face with a wet slap, leaning back to nuzzle and giggle tiredly.

"Then let's get the brave Captain back to his ship and go home Longfellow... I reeeeeeally need to use your bathroom..."

--

New Perk Added!-------------

Cola Nut-----
---Drinking a lifetime worth of cola in one night has made you a regular soda sommelier! You now gain twice the benefits from drinking any carbonated beverage for double the duration, including Sparkle Cola, Sunrise Sarsparilla and of course, Zip! Soda.

Quest Perk Added!-----------

Zip! Secret Recipe------
---The treasures of the Zip! Factory ruins has taught you the long lost secret recipes of the Fog Harbor speciality. You gain new crafting recipes at any cookfire or oven, allowing you to brew all varieties of Zip! Soda with the proper ingredients.